How I wish Michael Went
by madsci111
Summary: I don't own them, just some of the situations I put them in. Most of the spelling and formatting errors are fixed now, so I've reposted the chapters.
1. Michael

None of these characters, nor most of the situations, are mine. I'm aware that Tina applying for Kurt when she did for Mike has already been done, but I wanted to put my own spin on things.

Kurt was helping Burt in the shop on a dreary Saturday afternoon when he finally got up the nerve.

"Dad? I...I've been asked to come audition in person. I can afford the airfare out of my savings, but the appointment is for a Monday afternoon, so I may need to miss school."

"Where? I thought it was still a bit early for acceptance letters, unless its early decision. I know you didn't send anything in in October, you were still making lists then."

"I...Julliard doesn't trust taped auditions, the technology for splicing and autotuning is too good. I...when Tina sent off Mike's dance school applications, against his father's wishes, she finished up my old Julliard application. So, they want me to come on MLK day; I'm off school, but I'll have to see if I can save money coming back really early Tuesday morning."

Burt looked confused, and was silent as he finished tightening the bolts on the engine he'd just put back in.

"I thought you threw out that application because they didn't have a theater program?"

"I did, but then I thought about it when I got the letter, and...its the singing and acting that's fun, not necessarily the dancing. Besides, there was a mention in the letter that there were a few people excited about the return of a male singing breeches roles." Seeing Burt's confusion, Kurt turned back to the car he was tinkering with, blushing, "Those are roles written for a castrato, but for the last 60 years or so, have been sung by women."

"So its a way to steal back roles meant for your voice, rather than singing girl songs? But...castrato, as in castrati?"

"Yep, the one good thing about a voice that never dropped, there are roles not many others can do. Besides, since it looks like I'll be baby-faced for a lot longer, I can pull off singing a 16-20 year old for a long while. Also, I can take classes at Columbia, and work on my play and song-writing..."

"I'll front the extra money so you can pick your flight. Is it just the audition, or do they need you for the whole day?"

"Just the audition. Maybe leave on Saturday or Sunday, come back Monday night? No, that will mean hotel for the night. And I don't want to tell Rachel, so I can't be gone too long, or Finn will say something. I'll just go for the day."

"Alright, go on the office computer and take care of the plane when you're done with that car. I have about an hour left of work, then we can go home. There's some invoices you can enter in the bookkeeping program."

"Blaine! You would not believe the favor Tina did me! You know how I filled out all that paperwork for Julliard, but didn't send it? Well, Tina filled in the rest and sent it off, I have a audition appointment for MLK day for a spot in the Opera department."

"No, I don't plan on telling Rachel. She's getting on my nerves, and she thinks she's a gift to the world, whereas there are people AT JULLIARD who are looking forward to the opportunity to work with a countertenor."

"Hey, Dad. I'm heading to the airport once I get some coffee and a muffin. I went without this morning to make sure I was well-hydrated, and I have the beginnings of a headache coming on. Yes, it went well. Sure, see you at home."

"College visit? It's a little late for those," a young man said as he sat next to Kurt on the bus.

"No, an audition to solidify my acceptance. Now I have to go back to dreary Ohio. Oh, here's my stop."

"If you're back in the city, call me? I'd love to have dinner with you."

Handing back the business card, Kurt scoffed, "First, I'm underage. Second, I have a boyfriend. Third, I couldn't be seen with someone who wears socks that so completely clash with their suit."

When Kurt got back home, Blaine was waiting for him. Seeing the anticipation on his face, Kurt told him all about his audition, and they both laughed when Kurt described his experience on the cross-town bus.

"I'm supposed to hear in about three weeks. They seemed impressed, but who's to say? Now come on, let's watch Beauty and the Beast. I want to cuddle."

Two weeks later, Quinn announced her acceptance to Yale, and Rachel was starting to get more annoying than usual. Blaine's mom was home for once, and had barred Kurt from coming by, so he hadn't seen Blaine in almost two days. He was in Spanish when Burt pulled him out of class to bring him two letters.

After wandering the halls looking for an appropriate locale, they finally ended up in the chorus room.

"Dear Mr. Hummel, NYADA...wait list...Well, that's better than nothing, with 20 spots, I'm impressed I made the top 40. Julliard...Daddy, come stand with me." Once he was leaning into Burt's shoulder, he opened the folded paper.

"Dear Mr. Hummel...accepted for the fall term of 2012. Further information is forthcoming, many of the basics will be sent to the email address you provided with your application...I made it! I...Dad! New York, singing, writing. I can't get a degree concurrently, but maybe an extra year or something, and I'd have Julliard and Columbia degrees..."

"You beat them all. They threw everything at you. They tried to be beat you down, but you...you are unstoppable, Kurt. I'm so proud to be your dad. They can never take this away from you, at this moment on this day, you won! Now who's going to tell Blaine?"

"I...Mrs Anderson's going to let me come over this afternoon after his doctor's appointment. I'll tell him. I...I want him to know as soon as possible. Thank you for bringing this dad. I better get back to class."

"When do you want to tell people? This Friday, at family dinner?"

"That sounds good. I kinda want some plans in place before I talk about it too much. Besides, Rachel's been getting on my nerves with all her panicking. I can see where she's coming from, but she's bringing it up two or three times a day."

"Whatever you decide, just make sure you at least let Finn know before I need to send the deposit check, or Carole's going to ask some questions."

Kurt managed to avoid Rachel for almost two days, bolstered by the good news and Blaine's excitement about the whole thing. They'd had a frank talk about their feelings on being separated, now that it was becoming a reality. It was agreed that Skype dates and maximum possible time together over school breaks would tide them over.

Then Rachel got her NYADA letter on Friday and started lording it over him, assuming he was still waiting. This, of course, occurred as he was walking toward the chorus room, so she was trailing after him, protesting that 'Its alright if you didn't get in, Kurt. I'll still respect you. You can try again next year, transfer in, or something."

Finally, as they passed in front of the piano, Kurt couldn't take her fake sympathy anymore.

"Rachel, shut up! If you must know, I was wait-listed for NYADA, but I got into the Opera track at Julliard, and they showed interest in my minoring in Writing, plus the exchange with Columbia. I plan on a real major in addition to music. Quinn, we'll have to schedule weekend visits for you to visit from New Haven sometimes, the train ride isn't that long. Mike, have you heard yet?"

"Yeah, Duke has a decent dance program, and I can take classes for pre-med, so I have the option of medical school down the line. Best of both worlds. There's a bit of a debate on how to pay, but I'll work it out."

"When was I going to find out about this? Its the heart attack all over again!"

"I found out on Wednesday morning. I was going to say something at dinner tonight, but _someone_ was being obnoxious about how she'd still respect me when I'm a failure."

"Hey, that's my..." Rachel nodded, "fiancée you're talking about."

That garnered some odd looks, and a number of outbursts.

Finally, after a few minutes of this, everyone but Finn and Rachel headed to the auditorium for the Warblers' lesson.

Sitting in the chair beside Blaine's bed, Kurt told Blaine about his day. He would have been up on the bed, snuggling, but Mrs. Anderson had made it a condition of Kurt visiting, no romantic stuff.

"She makes me so mad! The words were fine, I can deal with commiseration or pity, but her tone, her expression! For all that she hated Jesse St James for being a smug bastard, she's become just as bad...It turns out she and Finn are engaged. I had an inkling something was up in Finchel-land, but not this."

Blaine groped half-blindly for Kurt's hand, between the eyepatch and the lack of glasses or contacts, he had trouble with anything visually beyond autopilot functions.

"I haven't been there, as much as I wanted to be, so I can't judge her. As for the engagement, I have my reservations, mostly because they seem to be doing this for lots of the wrong reasons. I'm actually surprised Rachel can't separate commitment from marriage, with her dads. From what they told me before that very ill-advised date, they didn't get married until a few years ago."

"It was actually pretty funny, Puck asked when the baby was due, as it seemed the only logical reason, in his mind, to get married to someone in such a rush."

"Enough about Finchel, what have I missed otherwise?"


	2. Spanish Teacher

I don't own them, they belong to RIB and CBS. I just mess with them and put them in uncomfortable situations.

Sam had a night off from his grocery-stocking job, so he borrowed Britney's car and went to visit Blaine. They'd patched things up after the 'sex sells' argument, and bonded over their nerdy tendencies.

"So, I don't know if Kurt told you, but Santana went ballistic about the quality of Spanish class lately, which she has a point about...Anyway, Mr. Shue brought in this guy, Mr. Martinez, who I swear looks like Ricky Martin with Adam Lambert hair to help, something about tenure."

Blaine snorts at Santana's temper, and screws up his face trying to picture this Martinez guy.

"Anyway, it turns out Miss P got the position, despite how much Sue and Mr. Shue were battling it out."

"Do you have a picture of Mr Martinez? I'm having trouble picturing him."

"I think Tina recorded his song from a few days ago, just be prepared, Kurt looks a bit creeped out for about half the song, the guy looked like he was flirting to 'Sexy and I Know It'.You want me to have her email it?"

"So what's this I hear, about a very sexy new teacher?"

Kurt buried his head in his hands, "Sam came by yesterday, and, of course, he told you about Mr. Martinez. The only good thing about the man visiting is that he got an offer to teach Spanish. Mr Shue said something about going back to teaching history, its what he trained for in college, anyway. Santana can't complain that she speaks better Spanish than the teacher, at least. I'm still confused why she's in the class to begin with."

"As long as you don't leave me for a hot teacher now that you're almost 18, I'm fine with you admiring the eye candy. Tina sent me a video of 'SaIKI'. As for Spanish, maybe for the same reason you're still in French? You do know you can take AP tests without taking the class..."


	3. Heart

I don't own them, they belong to RIB and CBS. I just mess with them and put them in horrible situations.

"So, when do you get to come back to school? When your mom told me the prognosis, it sounded like one step from outpatient. And now they've pushed it back again?"

"At least a week.. Its mostly because I'm not allowed to raise my blood pressure for a few days or use my eyes too much, so no reading. Since the surgery is tomorrow afternoon, I spend overnight, then at least three days at home. Mostly it depends on what the doctor says afterwards, and Mom."

"Just don't miss Valentine's"

"Wouldn't miss it. If nothing else, I'll campaign for extended visiting hours so we can have dinner together."

thank you B 333

_Sorry my mom's not letting you visit. Hope your weekend is OK. Luckily I can text without looking. XxB_

really B? You surprise me.

_See you later!_

Believe it!

"Kurt, I...are you free after Glee? I have..."

"What's with you, Mercedes? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just not sure how willing you'll be to help. You see, Quinn, Sam, and I want to do singing telegrams, and we found a fourth, but he's been home-schooled..."

"I assume this has something to do with Satan wanting to serenade Britt. What's the problem? I'm not about to sing with the God squad."

"No...could you talk to him? He wants to make a thoughtful decision."

"If you can promise no attempts at conversion, fine. Did you get Britt or Satan to do this too?"

"So, Joseph Hart, I hear you need to meet some gays before you make judgments. That's a step up from most people I've met."

"Uh, hi. If you don't mind, at least. I made a promise to Mercedes, and I wouldn't have been mean anyway. I want to learn things about the world outside my house, that's one reason I enrolled. Just point it out if I'm offensive?"

By the time Dave left, the handyman guy had finished constructing the stage. Kurt plopped himself down on the edge. All those romantic things weren't from Blaine. He'd broken his promise! When Quinn and Mercedes arrived, shortly followed by Sugar, they pulled him into decorating, and he forgot his annoyance for a while.

Once the party was going full-swing, which Kurt was happy to see included Santana's singing telegram, he was ready to just bow out, but then Sugar announced a 'compact' guest 'back from the dead', and oh, that charmer, it was enough to make up for the lack of attentions from his honey...

After the balloons dropped, Blaine pulled Kurt into his arms and nuzzled his neck.

"Hey, babe...What's wrong?"

"I sent you thank you texts for presents, and it turned out everything I got was from Dave, who thinks he's in love with me, and I'm really confused..." he blurted out in a rush.

By the end of the run-on sentence, they'd returned to Kurt's table, and Blaine sat at an angle so he could continue hugging Kurt.

"But I did send presents, I had flowers delivered to the front office with directions on where to put them. There were 2 yellow and 2 wine roses to the chorus room on Friday, six white roses at your locker yesterday, and a card and a dozen roses today for during Spanish. And I mailed a card to arrive on Saturday. You mean you didn't get them, and you got stuff from Karofsky instead, that you thought were from me? Now I'm the one confused."

"Let's not worry about it, since you're here, and dancing, I assume you'll be at school tomorrow, we can deal with the whole thing then. For now, its our first Valentine's as a couple, and may I say, a vast improvement over last year?"

AN: I tried to figure out a timeline so Blaine wasn't gone too long for his injury. Here's the thought.

Tuesday night: Bad, given special drops at the hospital—anti-inflammatory, moistening, plus antibiotic

Saturday afternoon: Ben

Monday: Santana complains

Tuesday: SaIKI (1/31)

Wednesday: supposed to have surgery this day, pushed back (too much swelling still?)

Tuesday afternoon: Surgery (2/7)

Friday-Tuesday: Karofsky presents


	4. On My Way

This was a beautiful episode, in many ways. If you've seen the ep, you know why I changed the rating.

RIB and CBS own them, and I know I kind of ripped off some stuff from the actual episode, but they were really powerful. Sebastian actually saw that there are consequences, and Dave has hope.

I'm kind of abandoning the commentary on how stupid it is for Finchel to get married, as it really is their decision, and they have to live with it. So be it if they get divorced in a year or two, they are adult enough to get married, they are adult enough to work out severance. Besides, there isn't the same level of 'life's too short" if Dave doesn't spiral as far as the attempt. This also means I don't need to risk ranting for pages about Quinn's dismissal of Dave's pain. That's my only issue with her lately, that she thinks she owns the apex of pain, that no one suffered more than she did.

After thinking about it, and discussing things with Blaine, Kurt set up a secondary facebook account so he could 'friend' Karofsky without getting on that jerk Nick's radar. To anyone at Dave's new school, it would look like some former team-mate stayed friends with him, but Kurt sent a private message with the friend request, making it clear that the McKinley Queers were there for him, if he needed them.

He was glad he did, because about a week later, he got a text half-way through glee.

**Nick told everyone. They tagged my locker. Please.**

"Blaine, Satan. We need to leave now."

Santana looked confused, but she followed the two boys out to the parking lot. Kurt was fiddling with his phone, sending a text, then dialing a number that didn't seem to be a contact.

"Hello, Hiram? Sorry to call during work hours, but do you remember that talk we had over Christmas break? Well, its hit the fan. Can you meet us there? Thanks."

Once they were in the Nav, Kurt sped out of the lot, "Santana, we're going to be a good support system. Dave just got outed."

Blaine growled, looking up from his phone, "I'm on Facebook, and his wall, people are leaving really horrible messages starting basically at the start of school today...He wouldn't have called if it weren't a crisis."

Santana sneered, but then she sighed, softening, "Crap, will his parents be OK with it?"

"His dad knew, with all the meetings last year. I'm not sure about his mom."

When they pulled up to the house, they walked in, as the front door was ajar.

"Dave? Where are you?"

They followed the whimpers to the garret room, the rafters exposed with models dangling. They found him huddled on his bed, where they all sat surrounding him, letting him cry.

Kurt's phone beeped from across the room where he'd dropped his bag. Seeing it was Mr. Berry's number, he answered, "We're upstairs. Its not too late...Dave, Hiram Berry's outside if you want to talk to him. I would have had my dad come, but he's doing transition stuff. We wanted an adult around if..."

"If you were too late. Thanks, let's go downstairs. I...I can't be in here right now."

Santana went to get the door to let Mr. Berry in while Kurt and Blaine helped Dave downstairs, as he was still a bit woozy from the emotional upheaval.

"Rachelah, I'm a bit busy right now. Yes, I'm aware that Regionals are coming up. If I see Kurt and Blaine, I will tell them of your wrath...Now, David, will your parents be supportive? I, Leroy, or Burt Hummel, could be here when you talk to them."

"Dad knows, its just Mom I'm worried about...Thank you for coming over, I...it means a lot that I'm not alone. Umm...if someone could stay until my dad gets home. I want to talk to him alone, but..."

"But you don't want to be alone with your pain?" Blaine suggests.

"Yeah. Kurt, I didn't realize until today what it meant, last year."

"If you three are going to stay, I need to go start dinner."

"Thanks Mr. Berry. I'm glad you weren't needed."

Clapping a hand on Dave's shoulder, Hiram left.

Blaine's phone rang, showing it was Rachel calling.

"What is it, Rachel? Kinda busy...We'll see you tomorrow. GoodBYE, Rachel."

The four teens talked about frivolous things for a little while, including the whole debacle with the GodSquad serenade for Britney.

"Dave, something I thought about when things were really bad...Do you remember what I used to say before Puck dropped me in the dumpster, 'One day, you'll all work for me'. Think about something you'll look forward to, something you'd miss out on if you gave up. It gives you something to hold on to."

Santana was already out the door, so Blaine added, "After the gay-bashing, when I was in the hospital, I thought about having a husband, legally, with a child and a dog, and a job I enjoyed...It really helped. If you can remember that there are people who care for you as you are, things aren't so dark."

"Where did you disappear to? Daddy was really serious, and I heard your name mentioned when he was talking to Dad last night."

"Rachel, Dave Karofsky tried to kill himself. He...he was so horrible to me last year because he couldn't come to terms with his sexuality, and he was forcibly outed , and then his Facebook wall got flooded with hateful messages. The McKinley Queers had a mission to talk him down, good thing too, 'cause he has exposed rafters in his room. I called your dad because...we wanted an adult with us, in case of the worst."

Rachel started sniffling, forcing out, "I forgive you. That was a good reason to leave. Will he be alright?"

"I think so. His dad's almost as supportive as my dad, though he doesn't really understand the implications yet."

At lunch, Kurt's phone rang, the caller ID saying it was Jeff.

"Kurt, is it true? There was an attempted suicide? Sebastian went white at breakfast when he checked his feeds. The only people he really follows who aren't Warblers are McKinley students."

"Yes, and tell Sebastard it may have been partially his fault, there supposedly was an incident where he made it clear that in his opinion Dave would always be alone. Luckily Blaine, Santana, and I talked him down before he hung himself."

"Damn. Would it be weird if we took a collection for Born this Way, or the Trevor Project, at Regionals? You guys are hosting."

"That's a good idea. I'm glad we ironed out our interchoir issues before all this, or I probably wouldn't have answered the phone."

"If I may, Mr. Sheu? Before we start practicing, the reason some of us left suddenly yesterday is that I got a crisis call. Dave Karofsky almost hung himself yesterday. Since the secret is no longer now, I might as well tell you: Dave was...outed very publicly, with accompanying online commentary."

"All that crap last year is because he had a crush on you, or something? That's whack!" Puck shouted.

"Anyway, I'm bringing this up because Jeff, from the Warblers, suggested that since we're the hosts for Regionals, we set up collections for BTW and Trevor Project. I think it would be a nice gesture."

"Tana, what happened? Why did Karofsky try to hurt himself?"

"You know how I was so sad and angry a few months ago, when everyone found out I love you, and you had to sit with me while I punched walls and drank a bottle of vodka? Britt, his friends found out he's a dolphin and started hating him, they painted bad words on his locker, and lots of people left him nasty messages on Facebook. Luckily, Kurt's a nice person and kept in contact. We went to visit him to make sure he wouldn't hurt himself. We would have taken you, but Lord T had a doctor's appointment."

"Oh. His heart hurt, but not like Mr Hummel's, and he wanted to make his body hurt like it did? Like when you broke your finger punching walls before we sang to you."

"Yeah, Britt. He didn't have people who loved him at school to make up for all the people who decided they hated him, so we went and made sure he knew there were people who cared."

Santana, Rachel, and Blaine were stopping off for everyone's coffee and snacks for a late practice when they saw Sebastian. He actually looked broken, which surprised everyone a bit. When he saw them, he nodded to himself.

"Rachel, those pictures are deleted. I...it was all just a game before, but, now there are consequences. I...I never want someone's death on me, even partially. The slushie thing, a prank that got out of hand, that's one thing, but..."

"As long as we never let things get that nasty, we'll be fine," Blaine replied. "I suppose you heard about Jeff's suggestion?"

"Yeah, it sounds like a good idea...I'm really glad your eye's OK, Blaine. I just, I got too caught up in the competition."

"You're still falling short of Jesse St. Sucks."

After Regionals, during the two hours Rachel had alloted for getting spiffied up for her wedding, Blaine and Kurt went to visit Dave. He'd been staying home while his dad arranged school stuff, and as a form of suicide watch, Paul was working from home while Mary was visiting her sister.

"I decided on my hope scenario. Its sort of a 'where I want to be in ten or fifteen years'...I want to be a sports agent, or a team business manager, maybe in Chicago or Cleveland. My partner's bringing our son to the office at the end of the day, because we're going to take him to his first football game."

"That's beautiful, Dave. I'm really glad the idea helped, you seem happier."

"Yeah, I was just so stuck in my own head, first with worrying about Nick telling, then with the actual..."

Both visitors nodded, then squeezed his hand as they said goodbye.

_AN: To prevent confusion, V-day was a Tuesday, Regionals was probably on a Saturday, and the three-day watch was almost over at that point, so crisis was some time Thursday. Nick didn't actually out him until the end of the day Wed, but had been making snide innuendos since shortly after leaving the restaurant._

_Another note: An aside from the scientist in me: Everyone comments on how CC's eye's change color when he cries. Turns out that hormones in emotional tears change one's eye color. That means he's dredging up real emotions for these scenes. For some reason, it seems common if one has any green in their eye color, its really exaggerated, thus the pretty aqua color rather than glasz, the grey gets overwhelmed. Also why Darren's go hazel instead of the gold color they normally are._


	5. Hiatus vignette

This is a really long hiatus, and there's so much I can/could fill in, so here's a little scene to replace the circle talk.

They belong to RIB and CBS.

During a water break from practice, McKinley Team Gay had a meeting in the prop storage closet.

"I thought we were all out of the closet? Isn't that the word for telling everyone we are dolphins?"

"Yes, Britt, but this is a different kind of closet, and has comfy places to sit and cuddle."

"Oh, that makes more sense. Thanks, Kurt."

"So, does anyone else think Finchel are rushing things?" Santana snarked.

"A bit. I...I understand the desire for commitment, but...it seems a bit quick to have an engagement that's less than a month long," Blaine said.

"It is a bit weird, as last I heard they were waiting until at least after graduation. I just, it wasn't like I was expecting them to wait until we can get married, or her dads, but they are rushing something that I wish could even _happen_ for us here in Ohio. My promise ring from Christmas is getting bedraggled, but that doesn't mean we need to replace it with something official."

"Oho, Dapper McShort-Pants, really?"

"I...it was a gum wrapper ring made with the wrappers from all the pieces of gum we shared after our Breadstix dates. Are you sure you don't want a metal promise ring, Kurt?"

Snuggling down in Blaine's arms, Kurt replied, "Only if you do. You said money was tight, so I'm fine with another foil ring, its the emotion behind it that counts."

Britney shivered, Santana wrapping her arms more tightly around her, the blonde whispering, "Did you ever feel that unloved, to do what Dave tried?"

Kurt nodded, "Sometimes, back in sophomore and the first few months of junior year, but I saw how much death devastated a family, with Mom, and I guess my desire to hurt myself was canceled out by how much I didn't want to hurt Dad, especially after his heart attack, which is when I really felt it."

Blaine cuddled Kurt, as he'd seen how often Kurt was on the verge those first weeks at Dalton. Closing his eyes in shame, Blaine said, "Just after I was released from the hospital after the bashing, I tried. Dad was blaming it on me, 'if you weren't such a target, it never would have happened'. My big brother was home from law school, and he found me, I supposedly died for over two minutes. I'd used my grandfather's straight razor, one of those swing-out ones, like from Sweeney Todd. That's the reason I got sent to Dalton. Trent found me in the showers cutting a few times, the last time...it was the night before I met my adorable spy. I haven't needed to since."

Santana had tears in her eyes, "I thought about it, after the whole thing with abuela. I took a double dose of mom's sleeping pills, just to shut things out, but I couldn't go further, my Britt-Britt needs me, and I never want to make her sad."

Britney crawled over to cuddle with Kurt, pulling Santana with her. When Sam came to find them so they could start up practice again, he found the four of them piled together, tear tracks still visible.

"Guys, I hate to interrupt, cause it looks like you all need this time together, but Rachel and Mr Shue are getting antsy."

Kurt, a bit hoarse from being stuffed up with crying, whispered, "Thanks, Sam. We'll be out in a bit. Could you toss me the box of tissues on the makeup table before you leave."


	6. Big Brother, sorta

_I got compliments on my Britt's voice, I'm glad you liked it. I never really feel like I hit that balance of dippy, but still really insightful, commentary that is a major part of her character. _

_As for the assorted-drabbles feel, that's kind of what I'm going for, because this collection is meant to detail the ripples from the tweaks I make. I don't want to reiterate the episodes, but if too much background action, or point-A to point-B rationale is missing, let me know._

_This time, since this episode seemed almost like a placeholder, I'm going to skip ahead to the NYADA/NY moving stuff (as giving a verdict on schools after about 4/15 is really weird, as decisions need to be in for most schools before 5/1) and missing-scene type vignettes. Actually, just expect things to go really off canon at this point, because the timing of things is really odd._

Quinn 'woke' from her chemical coma on Tuesday, but she still had a lot of physio to do. Luckily, she wouldn't join Artie in the wheelchair brigade permanently, though they had a series of talks after the doctor mentioned the possibility.

A few weeks later, Rachel got a call from NYADA with her audition time, and she didn't think for more than a few seconds before she said she'd be there, despite that meaning she would be in the car to Columbus when she was on the rota to be with Quinn for her therapy.

At lunch, Kurt sat down next to Rachel, "Rachel, Dad needs my car for moving some stuff to DC, can you give me a ride to the hospital after school? Its my day to volunteer and you're scheduled to be with Quinn."

"I'm going to Columbus. Sorry, Kurt."

"What are you talking about?"

"My NYADA audition is really early tomorrow morning, I'm going home right after glee so I can get through my pre-performance routine and be in bed early."

Kurt screeched, "You what? You're going to skip supporting one of your best friends to go to an audition? We've had that schedule in place for weeks, you knew when you had time free. I cannot believe you."

He stormed off, Rachel calling after him, "But its NYADA!"

Tina was passing by to sit with Mike, Artie, and Suzy, to prep for hand-off of Captain-ship for Academic Bowl, and heard the whole thing. She glared at Rachel and continued on without even saying hello.

Within two hours, all of glee and a significant fraction of the student body, most of whom liked Quinn, or at least felt badly about her accident, knew about Rachel's conceit. When she entered the glee room, everyone continued their conversations as if she wasn't there. When Finn came in, running a bit later than usual, he didn't sit next to her.

"Finn, why are you all the way over there?"

"I can't believe you. Last I knew, you were deciding whether to call the admissions people about choosing an audition slot, rather than taking the one they gave you, just so you could be supportive. Maybe I don't know you at all. If you can go back on that for one of your best friends, what would happen if I were hurt during rehearsals for a play?"

"Of course I'd visit you! But that's a job versus family."

"And Glee is supposed to a family. You might as well be skipping out on visiting a sister," Artie spat. "Did you know we actually had a 4-hour talk last week about what her life would be like if her back didn't heal fully? At least we know why she's been alone twice in the last week, you've been skipping your slots to practice."

"Guys, let's get on topic, we have Nationals to prepare for."

"Shut it, Mr. Sheu! In case you haven't heard, Man-hands has decided she's more important than Quinn's mental health," Santana ground out. "Not to mention we haven't discussed what will happen if Quinn's still in the chair, or isn't up to dancing before Nationals."

"Let's just hope for the best, and get on with things. We can't help Quinn right now."

Everyone besides Rachel glared at him and started gathering their things. Blaine and Puck actually looked like they wanted to punch Mr. Sheu. Kurt wrapped a calming arm around Blaine and guided him out, still glaring.

"Mr. Sheu, I'd like to talk to you about what my solo should be," they heard as they left.

They all ended up sitting on the stage, Finn curled into himself.

"I can't believe her! This is worse than she was a year or so ago, when her career and talent were her only focus."

"Finn, I hate to tell you, but Rachel only said yes because she felt you were the only good thing in her life. Now she has something she thinks is better..."

"Why didn't you say something, Kurt? This is the kind of thing brothers tell each other!"

"I tried, you told me to butt out. I wanted to mention it to dad or Hiriam, but they seemed to have their own ideas, and I needed to be available for Blaine, even if his mom wasn't letting me in the house..."

"Thank you for that, by the way, angel."

"Did you really know her? You were always breaking up. Its like counting all the time 'Tana and I made out, but weren't dating, as time toward anniversaries."

"My Britt-Britt makes a good point, Frankenteen. In terms of contiguous time together, its really only been about 8 months. That's way less than Chang-Chang, or even the friends of Judy over there, with all their mucking around before they got together."

Puck laid it out plainly for his friend, "You're always the one giving things up. Moving to New York when you don't have stuff planned for while you're there, what's wrong with taking some time apart, or whatever? You've seen how badly high-school relationships can end up if they crash and burn. Look at my mom, or Mr. Sheu."

Finn went quiet thinking about that.

Rachel went to her audition, blocking out all of her supposed friends' comments, even putting aside Finn's disgust. Nothing would stand in her way to her dreams.

"Rachelah, you ready? Your slot starts in ten minutes, do you want to warm up a bit more?"

"Thank you, Daddy. I think I'll find a bathroom or something, make sure I'm hydrated and do a few runs."

"Rachel Berry. This is an impressive resume, a bit light on the actual theatre, but still very nice. Sing your audition piece, and do your monologue, then we'll have a few questions for you. The rankings and acceptance list will not be ready for a week, once all the auditions are done."

"Very well."

[Don't Rain on My Parade, Maria at end of WSS]

"Miss Berry, why do you want to attend NYADA?"

"It is the best fit for my aspirations. I'm destined for the stage."

Shocked at the short answer when they were expecting a condensed personal statement, no one spoke for a moment, then another member of the panel asked, "What sets you apart from the rest of our applicants?"

"I've been acting in some form since I was two years old, and my voice is considered the best in my Glee club, and better than others I've encountered over the last few years. If you want to see more evidence of my talent, I included a myspace account address."

"That would be part of your full application, which we do not get to see, but what would your plan be if you were not accepted?"

"I'm not sure what would happen, but I'd likely get involved in community theatre to gain more credits and reapply."

"Thank you, Ms Berry. You will receive notice in the next two weeks."

As they recovered from the 'treat' of viewing Sue's bared breast, Kurt whispered, "He may be famous and handsome, but you are my Disney Prince."

"Thanks, Kurt. He's a lot to live up to."

When Blaine sat back down, pulling his sweater back on, Kurt took his hand, pressing a kiss on the back, then letting their still-joined hands fall on his thigh. Reassuring squeezes got Blaine through the condescending drivel Cooper spouted.

Blaine and Kurt were in the library at lunch a few days later, when Kurt whispered, "Are you _**sure**_ you don't want to come with us? Puck somehow found a way for Tina, Sugar,and Rory to come along?"

"Nah, I'll just be depressing; besides, I have an exam in AP US that day...Dad's been harping on me for not being enough like Cooper for the last three days. He's on a insurance commercial, for crying out loud. How does that measure up to a defense attorney? This is the first time Coop's been home for over two years, and...I'll rant later, its not for school libraries."

"Alright, as long as you promise we'll talk about it after school. You obviously need to get some things off your chest."

"We used to be close, because Mom and Dad have always been gone so much. I mean, Coop's my half-brother, and almost 8 years older, but he was all I had, most of the time. I didn't mind his criticism too much, because it was what I saw with the neighbors' kids, the older siblings barely tolerating their little brothers; but he left for college, did two years or so, then dropped out to do acting stuff. He used to come home often, because he was in Chicago or Cleveland most of the time, but then, right before Sadie Hawkin's, not long after I came out officially, he left for California. He talks to Dad on the phone pretty often, supposedly, but every time I called him in tears because of the bullying, or being homesick the first term I boarded at Dalton, he never returned my phone calls. Its been almost two years since he's been in Ohio, let alone visited. And now he's saying all these things that basically point to his low opinion of my whole life the last few years."

Over the course of his speech, Blaine gradually cuddled into Kurt's shoulder more, ending with the two wrapped around each other on top of the covers.

"I don't know what to say, other than I love you, and even when we're apart next year, or even if we end up apart for three or four, I will never give up on you. I will always be ready to talk with you. I may have to cut things short if its the night before a test, but I will **always** return your calls. I will **always** believe in you."

"I have something to say to you, Cooper Anderson."

"What is it, dollface?"

"OK, first of all, no one calls me that; its Kurt. Now, you listen to me. Blaine loves you, practically worships you, but you were insensitive enough to never return his calls when he left voicemails crying, you left him in that house alone with a father who could care less about him and tries to change him in ways that are just not possible. Blaine is _**my**_ Disney Prince. You, on the other hand, are an insensitive douche who seems to be willing to do anything to get ahead, even leaving your baby brother to the wolves. Make it better, **be** better."

-  
>As the two brothers walked to Cooper's car, Blaine asked, "Why did you all of the sudden start being nicer?"<p>

"Let's just say your boyfriend's tongue is sharper than those knives I hawked a few years ago. He made some good points...Let's just say I'll be better with returning your calls, and if you want, I'll arrange for you to come out to California for part of your summer break, so we can bond some more, and get you away from Dad for a bit."

_Let me just say, the dog scene was about the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. That is why Klaine is going to last._


	7. Saturday Night Gleever, sort of

As Unique came off the stage, Kurt, as she was passing by, reached to gently grasp her wrist.

"I'm sorry, Unique, I was being stupid. I didn't understand the degree of change you were talking about. I wish you all the luck in the world, especially with Jesse's imminent tantrum."

"Thank you, Kurt. It still hurt, but...I'm more confident like this. Its just, my parents belong to another congregation of Mercede's church, and you probably have some idea of how...they lack inclusivity."

Chuckling, Kurt and Unique walked back to the green room, Mercedes having gone to head Jesse off until their conversation was over.

"I really am sorry for my comment. It's just...I'm worried. Yeah, glee's cool at Carmel, there's a certain level of protection, but are you going to get crap for this?"

"Its basically another way of coming out. I may not go quite this far off-stage for a while, but...I'm happy like this."

"And happy is what we all strive for, regardless of labels."

"Artie, you know I'm your friend, right?" Tina asked.

"Yeah. What's this about?"

"Why are you being so sharp with Quinn? I meant to ask a few days ago, but you've been avoiding us other than in Glee, when we can't really talk to you."

"I just, she gets to walk again, and I'll never have that option. Some of it is jealousy, and some is anger that she's so blind to what will happen if it isn't the best-case scenario. Her doctors weren't sure for so long, just like with me, that...yeah, I'm kind of going 'why me' even more than she is."

"She's getting good with the chair, but her motor skills seem to be coming back, so even if she does end up having to use it on long days, its not like she's getting away from her accident scott free."

"That was part of my problem. She _**caused**_ an accident, like the drunk driver that pushed Auntie Molly into our car, and...he got out of his car and walked away with a bumped head. Karma says the cause of tragedy should have something to show for it."

"Well, from what Kurt said, the guy's getting tortured in prison, won't get out anytime soon. Kurt keeps up on the case, he even went to speak to the parole board last year."

"Rachelah, you have a letter from NYADA. Its quite thin."

"Oh, that isn't a good indicator, there's so many things they put on-line these days."

_**Dear Ms Rachel Berry,**_

_** We have looked over your application and taken into consideration your audition and interview, and feel we cannot grant you a place among the entering class of 2012. Good luck in your future endeavors.  
><strong>__**If you wish to know more about the decision, feel free to email the admissions office with "Panel Opinion" in the subject line.**_

_**Sincerely,  
><strong>__**Grace Bryon  
><strong>__**Admissions Secretary**_

"What? I'm rejected! I'll be taking them up on that clarification."

"Calm down, sweetie. Don't send anything off when you're angry. It doesn't reflect well."

From:  
>Re: Panel report on candidate<p>

Below, please find the notations each member, and the panel as a whole, submitted.  
>CT: Nice voice, but tries too hard, and doesn't show genuine emotion, more like mimicry of recordings, rather than making it her own. Monologue did not appear like had just seen fiance gunned down after brother killed.<br>BW: Powerful voice, acting could use some work, doesn't seem up to complicated dance work.  
>JZ: Belter, but dance and acting parts of trifecta weak.<br>Panel as whole: We all went to your MySpace page independently, and followed the video links. Two of us then used the names listed as others in the video to do YouTube searches. Reevaluate the quality of your colleagues before you place yourself above them. We'd give a spot automatically to Mr Abrams for 2013 if he were not wheelchair bound. JZ is going to mention Ms Jones to his contacts in the recording industry. There was mention of petitioning Mr. Hummel to reconsider whatever plans he has for next year, and Mr Anderson will receive recruitment letters. Ms Pierce and Ms Lopez could teach you a lot about the emotion and movement parts of theatre. Given the resources at your disposal in the form of your friends, we are confused as to the lack of movement you incorporated, and the emotional quality of your singing.

Rachel printed out the response, then slammed her way out of the house to go give a piece of her mind to her so-called friends.

She drove around for what seemed like hours, and finally found everyone at the Hudmel's, along with a random Asian guy she didn't recognize.

"Hello, Rachel. What has you so worked up?" Kurt asked.

"I got a copy of the NYADA panel response, as I wanted to appeal my admission, but they...they said I'm weak on everything but the singing, and that lacked emotion. They asked why I didn't take advantage of my friends' talents."

"Rachel, why are you complaining to us? We told you crying on cue while belting things out isn't enough. If you'd asked, Britt or Mike would have helped with movement. Now if you'll excuse us, we're figuring out how to include Quinn in the dancing...Are you sure you wouldn't rather go for the wheelchair dancing?"

Everyone ignored her, as Mike and Britney forming a short can-can line on either side of Quinn to work out something that looked cool without overbalancing her.

"If you can teach her how to maneuver well enough that it wouldn't look unbalanced to have a set of dance partners in chairs, I think it would work, you guys have less than a month, most of which will be taken up with AP tests, then prom, so better to figure it out now than wait for working it out in walking casts.

I can't believe you two talked me into spending a reading-period day critiquing show choir routines. Though Kurt's baking is a perk."

"Oh, shut it, Wes! You know you missed us. Besides, it keeps you away from Dalton. We told you its fixed now, Sebastian knows he did wrong."

_The Auntie Molly thing is my head canon. Since Kurt's mom (I picked one of the more common fandom names for the first Mrs Hummel) died about the same time as Artie's accident, I had said accident be a multi-car accident. A drunk driver hit Mrs. Hummel's car while she was on her way to pick Kurt up from dance class, which then forced her car into a T-bone collision with Mrs Abrams' car on the passenger side, hurting bb!Artie. The guy, once he was found (passed out at a bus stop a few blocks away), was convicted on multiple counts. Molly Hummel's death, and Artie's injuries, put the guy away for 8 years, then every 18months, he's gone up for parole, but he isn't out yet, as he doesn't seem to care what his drinking (at three in the afternoon on a Tuesday, even) wrought._


	8. Dance with Somebody

_I've made a few fixes to the previous chapter, as I got a few comments about loss of line-breaks, and the like. Should be easier to read now._

_**This was both one of the best, and one of the worst, episodes in a while. It picked up a few loose strings of plot, but it also created some very strange circumstances that don't connect with prior information and narratives. We never actually saw Kurt reply, not even when we saw him almost constantly during the Quinn/Joe song, he was just giggling. Therefore, I felt it not much of a stretch for Chandler to be a borderline-stalker.**_

_**Yet again, Burt is the most perfect dad in the world.**_

_**RIB owns them, but I take credit for the plot twists, besides the a few perfect lines.**_

_**Anyway, here goes...**_

Rachel had been frantically looking for some way to get her foot in the door, since NYADA had (unjustly) denied her a place. She had it narrowed down to late-registration at the Lake, or trying for one of the semi-professional theatres in Columbus, Toledo, Cleveland, and Indianapolis. So far, she wasn't having much luck. There were all kinds of paperwork to make such late application and admission not look like a last-ditch effort. It was, but it would not do for that to be obvious. She also had meetings and auditions for three large community theatre groups coming up between Prom and Nationals. Her dads were calling in favors or giving her names to drop when artistic directors didn't call back promptly. So far, things looked promising, and there wasn't anything that needed tending to for the next couple weeks, other than keeping her audition material fresh.

When Kurt got to homeroom, the monitor handed him a slip from the janitor, via Figgins. It was a warning about the candles in his locker.

As soon as they were dismissed, Kurt stopped by his locker and took one of said votives with him to the front office.

Slamming it down, he said, "They're not even real, I got some of the good-quality electric ones. A self-contained LED light is not exactly a fire hazard, therefore I'm not in violation of the rules."

"The appearance of such is also a violation of the rules."

"Where was that rule when the soccer team had a candlelight vigil-thing before their first game? They had real candles in the locker rooms, near aerosols and plastic-canvas shower curtains."

"Fine. But remove them or turn them off, Mr Jenkins reports what he sees."

"Blaine, why are you so far away?"

No response.

**Blaine. What's wrong? You're worrying me.**

Blaine jumped when his phone buzzed. Still watching Joe and Quinn, he cleared the screen without looking. On the way out of the chorus room, Kurt reached out to touch Blaine's sleeve, to stop him for a minute, but Blaine twisted away.

Seeing that in the three minutes that he'd not looked at his phone, there were eight new messages, Kurt sent **Stop it**.

That afternoon, they were hanging out in Kurt's room, and while Kurt was getting them snacks (more like a light picnic lunch), his phone buzzed on the vanity so many times that Blaine went to check it, to make sure it wasn't Rachel, or someone else from Glee. Instead, it was someone named Chandler. Looking at the contact, it had only been added/updated yesterday afternoon, which was odd, to say the least.

When Kurt came back, the first thing he heard was "Who is Chandler?"

Shocked, Kurt didn't answer for a moment.

"Well? He's sent you about 30 texts in the past 15 minutes. He wants to...reenact the end of "The Way We Were" with you."

Huffing a breath out, Kurt replied, "He's this...mildly overzealous guy I ran into at the music shop. He literally grabbed my phone out of my hand and put his number in when he heard me tell Mark about Juilliard. I realized I hadn't told him yet, because its been a while since we've gone."

"But why is he texting you about New York, like he'll be there with you?"

"He's going to NYU. Luckily, I should be able to avoid him, since I'm 25 blocks north and halfway across town. If he's started propositioning me, I'm going to change my number. Initially, it was nice, someone found me interesting. Especially since you started ignoring me, it was nice for someone to see me, find me worthy."

"I changed schools for you. Changed my whole life. That doesn't make you feel loved and appreciated?"

"It does, its just...when we go places, I end up outside this gaggle of girls when I come back from the bathroom. Sebastian just made it worse. I know he's better now, but...at the time, I was ready to wring his neck. I don't get much validation of worth from anyone but you, especially since everyone's in their own little worlds lately; so someone who sent me compliments, was willing to be a tourist learning to be a native with me, was nice.

Some of the things he sent _**are**_ funny, mostly because they were bad puns. I was going to show you during glee today, but you didn't answer me. Here, hand it over, I'll take care of it now."

In those few minutes they'd talked, there were another 10 messages.

**Please stop. I have a boyfriend.**

Moments later, the phone rang; it was Chandler. Hissing through his teeth, Kurt answered.

"Chandler, please stop this. Haven't you noticed I've only sent you 6 messages, all of them to desist?"

"But...I thought you were just being humble, the 'stop it' being an 'aw, shucks', or something."

"No. I appreciate the compliments, though most of them were a bit crude or corny, but I have a boyfriend I love very much."

Hanging up before Chandler could reply, he sent the texts to an archive folder so he had proof of the almost-stalking, along with a screen cap of the contact screen, before he deleted it.

Curling into himself on the bed, Kurt asked, looking up through the pieces of bangs that had loosened, "The only reason I let it continue that long is that...Blaine, why _**have**_ you been ignoring me? I think this is the first time in almost a week that we've spent more than 10 minutes together outside school or Glee, and the first alone time in almost two. We...what happened to us? Did I do something wrong? I can't fix it if I don't know what I did."

"Its always New York stuff now. Yeah, some of it was the drama from Rachel's...issues. Its like you can't even wait get out of here. How's that supposed to make me feel? I'm...trying to practice what life is going to be like without you. You'll have New York, and new friends. This was a nasty wake-up call, that you'll meet people who are better than me. You are the love of my life, Kurt, and I'm pissed off that I have to learn the next year what being alone is going to be like. Especially because I...I'm not sure you'll still want me, that we'll survive the distance."

"I just...I'm so sure we'll be fine that I figured you'd like some input into bedding and whether student housing or a tiny apartment are better, and stuff like that. You are...so perfect for me, and I don't want to lose you. Skype, and visits, and trust, we'll get through this. You're it for me too, and...I'm never saying goodbye to you, remember? Now come here. If we only have so many days in person, let's not waste them. Lots of stored-up cuddles and kisses, and sex, for those long days when I won't pass by you in the halls, or hold hands at lunch, or touch you with all my love at night."

After removing belts, ties, and scarves, to avoid knots and buckles in awkward places, they cuddled until Finn called up that the casserole Kurt had put together only had another few minutes.

-=-=-  
>After dinner, as they loaded the dishwasher and Kurt scrubbed the casserole dish, he bumped his hip against Blaine's and said, "We need to always talk. I can't know what's wrong if you don't tell me. If you'd asked, or commented about the singularity of topics, I'd have told you what I said before dinner <em><strong>weeks<strong>_ ago. Yes, I'm excited to get out of Ohio, mostly just out of Lima, but part the draw of being in New York was being with you, living with you, starting our life together. Yeah, it sucks that we're not going off together this fall, but...I'm not letting you drift away."

"Its just, everyone leaves. Mom left, Dad won't spend more than twenty minutes in my company at a time, and that's maybe once a week, and Cooper flew the coop, so to speak, as soon as he could. I'm...I'm never worth staying for. And once you're in New York, I won't be able to just drop by and watch a game with your dad or have Carol try and feed me up. Your family is..."

Letting the dish slide back into the soapy water, Kurt turned and pulled Blaine into a tight hug.

"Do you really think Dad and Carole won't have empty nest syndrome? There's nothing saying you can't come over." Pulling away a little, Kurt looked Blaine in the eye and joked, "Actually, I hereby deputize you into the Heart- and Mental-Health Police. You were previously on the job unofficially, but in my absence, Carol needs all the back-up she can get. Your duties are to attend the weekly family dinners, and at least a few hours of a weekend day."

As they both chuckled at Kurt's silliness, Blaine pulled him back in, wrapping himself around Kurt, snuggling his face into Kurt's shoulder. After a few minutes, Kurt loosened Blaine's hold.

"I'd love to continue this, but I probably should finish washing the dishes, so we can go upstairs. Oh, how late can you stay? Is this one of the days your dad's actually home?"

"He's, I don't know, so I probably shouldn't stay past 10:00, that way, if he will be home, I'll be there before him. Now, about Hammond's English project...Mike said you had him last year."

By now, Kurt had turned on the dishwasher, as it was full, and had put the other implements on the drying rack. Heading upstairs, Blaine promised, "Fifteen minutes on schoolwork, then, can we? Not everything, but, I really..."

"I'll check that Finn's engrossed in his video games and well-provisioned, then some naked cuddling sound good, after the school stuff?"

"Yeah, that sounds wonderful. I...it hurt, to pull away from you, but it seemed necessary."

"But it wasn't. Now come on."

Kurt was flitting around his room with multiple packets of bright post-its when his dad came in.

"Dad, you're back! How was this week?"

"Fine. What are you doing? Besides wasting office supplies?"

"Its my filing system, its lots easier than lists: take, keep here in the attic, keep here in the closet, donate, throw out. It's also easier to change my mind on where something will go, you know how crazy I get with planning things, and not wanting to rush. There's also a box on the bed that Blaine's been putting things in that he wants to take to his house."

"Not going to give me a box? It'd be nice to have some keepsakes of you not in your room."

"Oh. I hadn't even thought of that, Cooper's room, and Frannie's are like shrines to their teenage selves. Umm...I seem to have used all my colors. Oh, wait a second, that odd green. It was originally a bright green, but Finn spilled hot chocolate dregs on this half... I'll leave the pad on the desk for you."

"I'd give up my faith."

"But I would never ask you to."

"So we're OK?"

Quinn laughed gently, "Yeah, we're OK. Thank you for coming with me, and for getting down on my level sometimes, and...telling me that I'm still desirable. I," she swallowed back a tiny sob, "I haven't been this unsure of my own worth since the middle of sophomore year. I know I'll probably walk again, but..."

Smiling, and tucking a loose dread back into the twist around the tail, Joe helped her turn on the table so she could transfer back to the chair so they could go to the parallel bars to try walking again.


	9. Choke

_Since I've changed so much already, I'm not going to be following much of the plot points anymore. For example, the 'main' storyline of this episode is already past this point in my version._

"Hello, Rachel Berry speaking."

"Hello, this is Rebecca Stinton, from Indy Run, regarding your application and audition."

"Oh, Ms. Stinton. I'm glad to hear from you."

"We have a spot for you. If you can start June 15th, that is."

"Can you give me a day or two to look into arrangements?"

"Today is...Tuesday, let me know by end of business on Thursday."

"Thank you, ma'am."

Rachel had just gotten out of a very long rehearsal, finding her phone blinking with a message.

"This is Brett Matthews from Westies, for Rachel Berry. We'd like to hear you again, hopefully live. Call me back at the main admin number by tomorrow at noon."

Jumping up and down (adrenaline returned some energy), she went to tell Kurt, but he'd already left.

When she got home, she made a note on her calendar to call Mr. Matthews before school tomorrow. She'd much rather be in outside New York than in Indianapolis. Westchester County was conveniently located between New York and Connecticut, so she could have Kurt and Quinn easily come to her shows.

-scene break-

"Where'd that bruise come from? Is Brian hitting you?"

"I fell in Cheerios. Lay off, Tina."

"You're not lying to me, are you? You don't need to cover for him."

"Ask Britney. She was one of the bases when Carly missed the catch. What's all this about?"

"Domestic violence awareness campaign."

-scene break-

It was lunchtime, and Finn was on his fourth Red Bull and third Mountain Dew when Kurt sat down next to him.

"Was there a reason I wasn't invited to your boys' night in?"

"It was all kind of sudden, we organized most of it in the locker room. You weren't there, and Puck kinda showed up while we planned to kidnap him. I guess it got away from us. Blaine's phone died, supposedly."

"Yeah, he told me this morning when I found him plugging it into his car to charge. Oh, and from what Artie and Blaine told me, you're kind of marginalizing the underclassmen."

"Margi-what?"

"Marginalizing. Making someone, or their interests and opinions, not a priority. In this case, not thinking about the people who aren't graduating this spring. Rory's a sophomore, Artie and Blaine are juniors, and Joe's I don't know what, with the home-schooling he's in two sophomore classes, three junior classes, and two senior classes. Just think about it, OK?"

_AN: Making up names for troupes._

_This ended up really short, so I'll add some Prom-prep stuff._

Finn and Kurt were having a 'lady-chat', while Blaine snoozed against Kurt's shoulder (they'd been watching Beauty and the Beast, but preparing for AP exams had cut into sleep, and Blaine's caffeine-crash was particularly brutal this time).

"Should I ask Rachel to prom? I mean, we're still engaged..."

"That's not up to me, Finn. I've actually been meaning to ask you why, with all the crap she's put you through, you haven't asked for your ring back."

"I can do that? Isn't it kinda rude?"

"If you don't fit, to the point where getting married isn't the plan anymore, then its probably better to not linger. Finn, she's bordering on being emotionally abusive. There's a difference between helping each other grow and manipulating someone into the desired shape. I think Puck's told you something similar, but you are _**always**_ the one left making the hard choice. She rarely asks your opinion, let alone listens to what you say. If it weren't already almost 10, I'd suggest taking care of it now."

"But I do still care about her," Finn said, staring at his hands, wringing them in his lap.

"Talk to Carole, then, I can't, and shouldn't tell you what to do. Now I need to get my snuggle-bunny of a boyfriend awake enough to go home, or ask to stay over on the couch, its almost his curfew."

Turning toward Blaine, Kurt rubbed his arm, crooning, "Blaine, honey, it's 9:45. Do you want to call your mom and let her know you're crashing here, or are you up to driving home?"

"Mmm...Kurt. Could you hand me my phone? I'm sleepy. Are those silky PJs still here?"


End file.
